


Where have you bean all my life

by PeachBlue (cloudsinateacup)



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Tokyo Ghoul, Baristas, Canon Divergence of an Alternate Universe, Canon-Typical Violence, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Light Angst, M/M, Mutual Pining, Soft Lee Jeno
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-19
Updated: 2020-04-19
Packaged: 2021-03-02 01:00:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,502
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23726455
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cloudsinateacup/pseuds/PeachBlue
Summary: Na Jaemin, eccentric regular and man of extreme taste, always comes to the coffee shop Jeno's working in because he's the only one who's willing to humour his coffee order.Yeeun thinks they're both hopeless.NCT CoffeeShop x Tokyo Ghoul!AU
Relationships: Kim Namjoon | RM/Kim Seokjin | Jin, Lee Donghyuck | Haechan/Mark Lee, Lee Jeno/Na Jaemin, Park Jisung/Zhong Chen Le
Comments: 6
Kudos: 30





	Where have you bean all my life

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> canon divergence of an alternate universe, what a tag
> 
> um so like jeno’s barista uniform is like that one jsmr where he has glasses and suspenders (and an apron for like utility purposes) because that is A Look™ and I'm weak send help
> 
> henlo yes I’m starting a new series even though my ATLA one is unfinished, series because there’s a chenji storyline alongside this which I may or may not write separately when this is done plsdontkillme
> 
> I'll keep writing the ATLA one! Inspo suddenly struck for this one and I couldn't turn away. And I'm a weak, weak woman when it comes to Lee Jeno
> 
> Stay safe and healthy everyone!

The weekday morning rush was always the worst.

Crowds, bustle, people coming in and out, chatter, scores of college students fighting to urge to just belly flop on the ground and crawl over to the counter for a shot of caffeine.

It’s floppy bedheads, mismatched socks with flip flops, eyes bleary from sleep and it smells like desperation, sweat and tears and it’s just really fucking depressing.

Don’t get him wrong though, Jeno loves his job.

There’s something fulfilling about a perfectly brewed cup of coffee, the soft whip of creamy foam coupled with the aesthetics of latte art, and customers’ smiles when they take the first sip, but damn do sad college students take a lot of the happiness out of it.

Jeno is glad that he at least is able to change their state of mind from ‘ _fuck me sideways_ ’ to ‘ _fuck the universe_ ’ - he’s contributing to lowering suicide rates in college students unfortunate enough to be enrolled in a 9am, all by giving them the drug they need.

Jeno didn’t go to any fancy barista schools nor does he have a license, but he does have an impeccable eye for detail and he’s admittedly really quick at picking things up.

Being a barista is quite the niche skill set, but his colleagues, older staff members and Yeeun are all really nice and have never been stingy with their knowledge, offering to show Jeno the ropes to making the perfect cup and willing to swap their timeslots with his during essay deadline-fighting and exam seasons to make his university life that bit easier.

And the pay was _good_. Jeno may be the fortunate portion of students that are employed, but he’s still saddled with crippling debt and living expenses like the average student.

Benjamin Franklin had the wrong idea about student life: Screw saving, a penny earned was a penny earned.

For now, he sweeps those money troubles under the proverbial rug. With steady, practiced ease, Jeno shakes the pressurized whipped cream dispenser, fingers long used to the searing cold of the aluminium, and he sprays an ungodly high swirl of whipped cream onto the iced chocolate in front of him (light ice, extra cream, extra syrup).

He finishes it with so much drizzle that the drink could pass off as a zebra before gently fitting the dome-shaped lid on top, squishing the mountain and forcing the extra cream out through the straw opening.

He ignores it, normally he would take the lid off and redo the cream, but he doesn’t have the time, and Chenle looks more excited about the oozy top than getting straight As in Organic Chemistry II (Jeno is still amazed, Chenle spends so much time mucking around that he has trouble remembering that Chenle is kind of a genius), so he fits a sleeve around the cold cup (again, a Chenle special requirement) and hands it off to the eager grabby hands of the younger.

The grin on Chenle’s face is worth all the trouble honestly, and the “Thank you hyuuuung” brings a matching smile to his face.

“Jeno!”

Yeeun’s voice pulls him back to attention. The older girl is currently working the cashier; fingers flying across the monitor to key in the orders at warp speed.

Yeeun scans the card from the customer with one hand and sets the pastry timer with another, she hits the button for the receipt printout, and while the machine is churning, she turns and throws two croissants and one muffin into the oven, pulling out a done scone and bagging it, then adjusting the dials and sending the scone hurling across the counter towards Jeno to be served, all with amazing dexterity.

She returns to the cashier and pulls out the receipt to hand off to the bewildered customer just as the machine coughs it out, “Jinyoung-ssi, your blueberry scone is ready, thank you!” She calls as Jeno places it on the serving counter.

“Two large PSLs, one skinny; One short oat Latte, extra shot,” She relays and like clockwork, Jeno picks up the already marked to go cups on the tray.

Yeeun throws a _thanks!_ over her shoulder when he loads up the coffee tamper and she’s already speaking to the next customer in line before he can formulate a response.

This is why Yeeun is chosen (volunteered, sacrificed) to stand there, not only because she’s a god at typing - no one knows how her hands can move so fast with such precision - but also because she’s the only one whose head is clear enough in the mornings to process an onslaught of orders and possesses the tact to deal with unreasonable customers, all at the same time with extremely high efficiency.

Jeno would rather hurl himself onto the tracks of an incoming train than be in her place (and their boss Seokjin would probably sooner drink drain cleaner than be on morning shift), but Yeeun takes it all in stride, managing the position of Jeno’s nightmares with an unflappable smile. He marvels at Yeeun almost every day because she’s honestly such a miracle worker, but he’ll have plenty of time for that, and this is his turn to work his magic.

While Jeno might not make the best coffee out of all the employees (that title easily goes to Seokjin who’s some sort of domestic deity or something because Jesus must have done something to his seaweed soup to make it taste so good, Jeno almost cried when Seokjin brought him homemade lunch on his birthday) but their combination is the most efficient, able to churn out the most orders with the least time with the least mistakes.

It was shakier at first, when he was less familiar with the machines and the process and they had to try out different delegations to check out which worked out the best, but when he’d improved in his coffee making and Yeeun found her innate talent at Keyboard Fury, they settled into a rhythm.

The two of them are the youngest on the roster, but that’s not the only reason why they’re placed on the busiest graveyard shifts in the morning and the close up at night – Quick, clean, competent, despite only having met a few months ago, they had quickly developed a synergy that transcends Dragonball and a dynamic not unlike real siblings.

Jeno might be getting ahead of himself when he says this but it’s true. Untouchable. They were untouchable.

_(“What an arrangement,”_ Seokjin had said, _“Wow what a handsome genius I am, I’m such a catch. I stan me. Kim Seokjin Genius Jjajangmyeon Boong Boong. Who would have thought you’ve worked together for only two months?”_ The owner pats himself on the back, “ _Well done Seokjin, you’re on fire”_ )

”Pumpkin Spice, Skinny Pumpkin Spice and Oat Latte for Minah-ssi, thank you!”

He slips the three drinks into a carrier and hands it off to Minah, who flashes her dimples at him before disappearing through the door.

He used to be shy about calling out for drinks, but he’s used to it now, after Yeeun got a terrible sore throat and he had to yodel for an entire week before she could speak louder than 70 decibels again.

Jeno whirls on his heels, face still frozen in his service smile, and throws the ready brewed shot into the blender for the next Frappuccino. He goes on autopilot when he punches the lid on and lets it whirl away in the background while he prepares a decaf shot for the next order.

He’s calling out for an iced lemonade order when Yeeun nudges a cup into his hands, “Death Coffee, usual,” she says in a lower voice, eyes dancing with something playful, and Jeno holds back an inhale.

Suddenly, Jeno can feel the heat of a stare on the side of his face. He doesn’t look up to avoid meeting those eyes. No one needs to know that Jeno had agonized over them, can remember them in perfect detail, even without looking at them, dark and sparkly, how long those lashes were and how they brushed against the soft skin of his cheeks.

Jeno gulps, and after short consideration, reaches for the freshly opened bag of new coffee and busies himself with brewing.

Death Coffee, Eight, Eight Shot are all nicknames that Yeeun gave one of their regulars, and it’s aptly given, because Jeno is sure Seokjin would definitely pour drain cleaner down _Jeno’s_ throat if he’d suggested making this a part of the menu (which he wouldn’t, Jeno has taste, he likes his tastebuds too much to subject them to this abuse, he still needs to try the rest of Jin-hyung’s cooking).

“Extra large Iced Americano with 4 extra shots for Jaemin-ssi!”

Americanos weren’t an uncommon order, particularly for professors and TAs who like the taste of the dead souls of their students, it makes sense that their daily tormenters were drawn to suffering. But this- this order is something else.

Extra large Americanos have four shots in them, which way overshoots the recommended serving size of caffeine, but no, Death Coffee wants them to leave out the water in Americanos and substitute them with four more shots of espresso instead.

Eight shots of espresso. Essentially they were here serving four Doppios in a large cup to the same customer all at once.

No mere mortal, even with nerves of steel and a tongue made of glass, would be able to drink it without burning a dimension to hell in their stomach.

(Yeeun thinks it would be a good interrogation tactic, Jeno’s glad for the universe that Yeeun is into business management instead of secret services)

Na Jaemin pushes through the waiting crowd and ah, there he is, wide smile on his unfairly attractive face. Jeno’s weak, traitorous heart skips a beat when the boy waves at him from the other side of the counter.

Chenle, who’d stuck around to wait for Jeno to end his shift, is not being subtle at all with his cheering and Jeno mentally revokes his status as his favourite dongsaeng (technically he’s the only dongsaeng Jeno will claim, because Donghyuck is literally only a month younger than he is and he’s more demonic than Jaemin’s coffee)

Yeeun had dismissed Jaemin’s odd order as an attempt to flirt at first, and had flatly said there were better ways to get Jeno’s attention to ask him out, but after they witnessed Jaemin’s ability to down the drink happily and tearily tell them this was the best rendition of this drink he’s ever had yet _(“Everyone thinks I’m crazy and decreases the number of shots and this is the most perfect coffee I’ve ever tasted- You’re amazing!”_ ) even Yeeun had to grudgingly accept that Jaemin’s tastebuds were probably wired differently. Jeno had been prepared to call for emergency services in case Jaemin would need his stomach pumped but it proved to be entirely unnecessary when he came back time and time again for the same order.

It would have been fine for Jeno if Jaemin proved to be a demanding asshole with no heart and consideration for anyone, he would be able to pass this off as an attraction to handsome fuckboys and put a tamper (ha!) down on his feelings, squash it like he does coffee.

But no, Na Jaemin proves a menace to Jeno’s attempt to ignore the _doki doki_ in his chest because he’s every bit an angel his appearance suggests- Ever polite and enthusiastic whenever he speaks to Yeeun or Jeno, really bubbly and playful when he sits at a corner with his friends (there’s an _Injunnie_ and a _Jisungie_ and no, Jeno is definitely _not_ listening in) and effortlessly slipping into a really attractive seriousness whenever he’s working on assignments.

He always occupies the same table, the same chair, where Jeno can see him clearly from behind the counter and here’s the crisis: He’s definitely growing on Jeno, to the point where Jeno knows at what time which day he’ll come in (today is Tuesday, so he’ll be here before his 9am, that’s all he’ll see him for the entire day and no, Jeno is definitely, absolutely, _not_ keeping tabs on purpose, he just has a really special coffee order and it’s easy to remember him.

“Hi Jeno!”

His heart stutters when Jaemin calls his name and Jeno would cut the traitorous muscle out if he could, screw circulatory functions, he doesn’t need one of his vital organs to betray him when his words already have.

Jaemin takes the coffee Jeno is holding directly from his hands, warm fingers against Jeno’s cooled ones. He takes the straw that Jeno hands him and sticks it into the drink before taking a long sip. Jeno watches like an idiot as the furrow in Jaemin’s brow relaxes and his eyes crinkle with joy.

“Ahh I really needed that- Oh? It tastes different?”

Jeno flushes at Jaemin’s gaze boring into his face, and focuses on the curiousity in Jaemin’s words.

“I- We ordered a small lot of beans from Tanzania… It’s a bit different to our usual Columbian beans, really citrusy with lemony and peachy tones to it and I-“

Jeno pauses in sudden horror, realizing that changing Jaemin’s order without asking was precisely why he’d forgone all the coffee shops to come to theirs and he blushes harder, “I thought you’d appreciate a change… I’m so sorry, I didn’t think to ask, I’ll remake your order-“

“Holy shit.”

Jeno looks up from where he’s fiddling the edge of his apron to see Jaemin looking at him like he’s found a new religion, eyes wide and gosh Jeno is blushing, he’s definitely blushing.

“This is amazing! I never knew there could be so much variety in flavor! I’m actually going to cry, this is so good-“

He starts sniffling and Jeno observes in alarm that there actually are tears welling up in Jaemin’s eyes and he scrambles to hand him a stack of tissues.

_Fuckfuckfuck_

“I’m so sorry, please don’t- Oh no- I should have asked- Oh god Jin-hyung’s going to laugh at me, I made a customer cry-“

Jeno catches himself before he can stuff the napkins into Jaemin’s face, because they’re not exactly close, they don’t exactly know each other. Jaemin is just his weird regular with really extreme taste. Jeno isn’t so good at people, he’s not prepared to handle this-

“Thank you, Jeno,” Jaemin lowers his tone in sincerity and goosebumps creep their way up Jeno’s arms without asking, “This means more to me than you think.”

Jeno thanks (and curses) Chenle’s obnoxious laughing for snapping him out of it and replies, flustered, “I really didn’t do much, it was an impulsive swap… But if you liked it I can keep doing it whenever we get new beans, Jaemin-ssi.”

“Just Jaemin, please, we’re in the same year right?”

Jeno stops breathing.

Is this it? Is this the move from customer and employee to friendship? Is he going to ruin this? Jeno doesn’t spend a lot of time with friends, choosing to keep contact with a select few (it’s also mainly those select few that actively drag him about to do shit, Jeno is a certified homebody), and he’s even worse at connecting with friends the same age. He doesn’t want to ruin this, likes Jaemin a bit too much, with his kind personality, infectious smile.

“Y-“

“Yes you are,” Yeeun deadpans next to Jeno, and both boys jump at her sudden interjection.

“Yes, you’re both sad sophomores and this is pathetic to watch. I’m glad you’ve both finally gotten somewhere with self-introductions, Hot-Shot Eight, but I need Jeno now because the queue is growing, and I don’t have six arms and four legs.”

She pushes a labeled cup into his chest, “Regular Flat White please, Jeno.”

Jeno tries to will his blush away as he gets to work, he picks up the rinsed milk pitcher and starts steaming milk for the Flat White.

One shot of Espresso, two shots of steamed milk, swirl the steamed milk to fold the froth of microfoam back into the liquid for that seamless texture, actions he’s done millions of times by now.

He almost burns his fingers on that perfection when Jaemin leans over the counter and calls sweetly, “Thanks again, Jeno! See you tomorrow!” And Jeno is too woozy and sundazed to reply.

(Tomorrow is Wednesday, Jeno’s only full working day, and Jaemin comes in at around 2 in the afternoon with _Injunnie_ to work on assignments until closing or _Injunnie_ wrestles him to leave)

Jeno has to physically shake his head to concentrate on his task. He can feel the tips of his ears burning as Yeeun calls a _“Sure!”_ at Jaemin for him, laugh in her voice.

“Regular Flat White for Minhyun, thank you!” His voice cracks at the name and Chenle, the devil with blond hair, keeps laughing throughout his shift.

(He definitely does not whine to Chenle when his break comes, nope.)

* * *

Two more Tanzanian Americanos and one specially made mixed blend Americano slushie later, Jaemin spends a mildly disastrous Saturday morning introducing his friends to Jeno (it made Jeno more nervous than when he was first interviewed by the bosses, Jeno is sure Renjun isn’t that impressed with him), and news that Jeno made new friends and a potential love interest had spread amongst the staff of the small shop.

Johnny absolutely has a field day with this, and Jeno is sure that by the end of the day, Doyoung and Jaehyun would be on the gossip train as well.

Doyoung is, with the lack of a better phrase, a mother hen, and will absolutely nag and demand to meet Jaemin until Jeno gives in even though they weren’t even close friends yet and certainly weren’t dating. And Jaehyun is _cool_ , Jeno has an image to upkeep.

Seokjin comes sweeping in while they’re cleaning up, claiming to do stock management, with pizza as a bribe, an ear for gossip and a resigned Junmyeon in tow.

“My dear child, what is this rumour of a budding romance? Is it happening under my wondrous rule? Is this a Cinderella story right underneath our noses? Millennials love this shit, I’m writing this down and taping it all over the walls, not even Junmyeon-hyung can stop me.”

“Please don’t, hyung,” Jeno protests weakly as Seokjin imitates a windshield wiper while Yeeun pounces on the bribe.

She eagerly flips open the pizza box and promises to send Seokjin every detail she knows, provide regular updates with footnotes. Seokjin promises her (with fingerguns, the most sacred promise) bingsu next week and fried chicken the week following.

Traitor. Donghyuck is right, employers are scary, but girls are scarier.

“What do you have to say about this, little pup? I didn’t come for stock taking with Junmyeon-hyung to not hear a single peep from you.”

More like use stock taking as an excuse to come, seeing as how Seokjin has his elbows on the table, leisurely chewing on a slice of pizza in the alpaca way of his while Junmyeon is the one tapping away at the monitor. Jeno looks at him for help, but the oldest of them all just offers him a mellow, acquiescent smile, trained from all those years of dealing with his co-owner, before returning to his work.

Junmyeon is their indispensable other boss who’s in charge of the business side of things. He has the patience of a saint and is master of all the things that Seokjin doesn’t want to deal with, including dreaded stock control and cost accounting.

He’s the plug to Seokjin’s flamboyant purchasing decisions _(“Let’s paint the floor pink!” “No, Seokjin.” “We should make bubble tea! Green tea chocolate! A matcha ceremony!” “We’re a coffee shop, Jin-ah.”_ ). As much as they need Seokjin as the entrepreneur to venture out, take risks, try new things and as the heart of good coffee here, Junmyeon is the undisputed brain and cornerstone to this business.

Without Junmyeon, this café would have gone bankrupt, ruined by palm trees in the corner (a souvenir from god knows where) and Gucci zebra statues at the door (true story, and a gift from Taehyung), and eccentric menu names (“ _Don’t angry names sound cooler? Like ‘Can I have a regular sized Fuck You?’ Or we can have a tequila spiked one called My In-laws are In Town-” “Are you… projecting, Seokjin-ah?” “I’m just saying- There’s a coffee called a Black Eye, hyung! What a waste not to have that on the menu!_ ”) all before it got to the third month.

(Suddenly the angry coffee names seem like a brilliant idea, Jeno would like a Death Wish, pronto)

“There’s nothing between us, hyung,” Jeno mumbles, ears burning.

“US!” Seokjin crows.

“Oppa! He can’t say his name without turning into a tomato!” Yeeun joins in.

Yeeun is enjoying this way more than she should, Jeno would throttle her if he didn’t need her so much in the morning shift.

Seokjin cleans his nonexistent windshields again and he claps in delight, “Oh Joonie would love to know about this, this is so worth it, I cannot even-“

(Leave it to Seokjin to master zoomer slang, Jeno can’t even either)

“Junmyeon-hyung, we have a coffee shop alternate universe right here!“

Jeno wants to point out that his life is not shitty fanfiction and his boss’s boyfriend definitely does not need to know the details of Jeno’s sad Saharan Desert of a love life, but he doesn’t trust his voice to not crack, he’s gotten enough shit from Chenle for that today, his pride is on the line here, a thin, fraying line clothesline, weighed down by old ratty college sweatshirts and aprons stained with Columbian coffee.

“I also heard that your boy likes exotic coffees, so in the name of young love, I ordered more specialty coffee from Peru and Guatemala, I’ll send you the fact sheet later and Seulgi would be ecstatic to go over it with you to make sure you have your facts straight so you can impress him–”

Jeno looks at Junmyeon in alarm but he receives a satisfied nod in response.

Oh god. This meant that Junmyeon approved of the added order as well, in the name of young love.

Jeno wasn’t expecting so many betrayals this evening.

“-I also heard that Johnny developed a way to latte art a dick onto his coffee, so I’ll put in a word for him to teach you the next time your shifts overlap, you never know, maybe your boy likes it more aggressive-”

This is turning out to be the birds and the bees talk with his local flower market auntie, Jeno looks at the three of them and notes how Yeeun’s eyes have not stopped shining and how Junmyeon is secretly keeping tabs on the conversation.

_Aunties_ , Jeno corrects, and vaguely wishes the ground would swallow him up.

“You should see the look on his face when Jaemin enters the shop, oppa!”

“Oho! It might be worth waking up for!”

“I’ve seen it once,” Junmyeon nods, “Very cute. Very pink.”

Jeno feels part of himself dying as they conspire in the background.

“We should push Jeno over when Jaemin is here, give them a bit of shoujou manga action!”

“I’ll do it boss! I’ve been waiting for this opportunity for ages!”

Junmyeon’s lips are upturned, “Well, as long as nothing is broken.”

Matching Cheshire grins grow on Yeeun and Seokjin’s faces, Jeno has never felt so betrayed.

Is that how olives feel? To be raised by the farmer all their lives believing they were going to be the superior topping on pizza to be discarded on the cardboard instead? Jeno slowly picks up the olives Yeeun took out from her slice and pitying them, eats them wordlessly. There. A few less lonely souls.

“Oh!” Seokjin stands up from his seat, wobbly with all the grace of a newborn giraffe, he topples over in an exaggerated motion, “I have fallen! Oh, how would I ever get up?”

“Fear not, fair Jeno!” Yeeun gets down on her knees next to Seokjin flopping on the ground. It’s funny how she’s is a head smaller than Seokjin, but it doesn’t stop her from circling Seokjin’s head with her arms, voice pitched several octaves lower, “I will save you!”

Junmyeon claps placidly behind the counter at the skit as Jeno chokes on the offensive topping on his pizza.

Never again. Fuck olives.

By the time they all sober up (Seokjin from his gossip and Yeeun from her bribery drunkenness), Jeno isn’t sure his dignity will ever recover again.

Of course it’s Junmyeon who actually tells them to leave, because Seokjin is still too caught up in Jeno’s nonexistent whirlwind romance.

“Jeno,” Jeno lifts his head from his rumination on quitting his job, having to quit school as a result and becoming a snake milker, maybe death will come quicker that way.

Less embarrassing too, death from snake venom sounds pretty badass to Jeno, way better than death from teasing.

“Don’t worry about staying to close up, Jin and I will do it after I’m done with stock taking. You’ve done most of the cleanup already, we can do the rest – you two should go home soon, walk home together, it’s dangerous to be alone at night.”

“That’s true,”

And Jeno immediately snaps to attention, snakes forgotten when Seokjin is in one of his rare non-joking moments.

The elder loves goofing off and making dad jokes, but when push comes to shove he’s incredibly caring to his employees, before long Jeno was quickly taken under the wing of Seokjin’s friendship group and treated like the prized little brother _(“Because you actually bother to entertain their orders,_ ” Yeeun says, _“I’ve never seen so much syrup in a Frappuccino before but Taehyung-oppa has always been one to push the boundaries of being human._ ”).

“There’s been movements in the Seoul ghoul community, and even if the CCG is on high alert, it’s still risky to be out at night.”

Seokjin nods his head towards the newspaper rack, directing Jeno’s gaze at the paper even though Jeno already knows, he’d read it this morning right at setup, and Chenle had texted him about it as well.

**Failed Uprising** , the headlines say unrepentantly in bold lettering, **Unregulated SS Rank Ghoul Duo TVXQ Apprehended.**

“They finally got to them,” Seokjin softens at the mention of his friends, “Jungkook and Taehyung’s team have been working on them for a year now, but you don’t need a connection within the CCG to know what kind of wind has been blowing in the undercurrents of Seoul…”

He fixes Jeno and Yeeun with a gaze akin to a strict parent, “Unregulated ghouls will be scrambling to claim territory, and you two are the last I want to be caught in the crossfire.”

A shiver runs down Jeno’s spine at the implications of that.

“Go away,” Seokjin flaps his hands at them to shoo them off, playfulness back again, “I’ll do my part as a co-owner and slave away in this small space-“

“We’ll see you tomorrow,” Junmyeon cuts in, amused smile on his face, “and Yeeun?” She looks up at him while untying her apron, “I expect to hear updates from you regularly.”

Jeno groans as Yeeun salutes.

* * *

“Why are you all so invested in this?” Jeno (only just kind of) whines to Yeeun when he gets exactly 67 text messages and 42 missed calls from Doyoung on their way home (she’s older, Jeno can exercise his dongsaeng rights and whine if he wants, he doesn't want to face Doyoung's questioning yet if the "WHAT DOES JOHNNY-HYUNG MEAN WHEN HE SAYS YOU HAVE A BOYFRIEND" was anything to go by)

Yeeun, barista, semi-good noona and professional Jeno mocker ruffles his hair and laughs, “You rarely hang out with people your age, Jeno-yah. You only have Donghyuck,” Jeno makes an offended noise, “and occasionally Mark and Yukhei, but that’s seldom and they’re both in the year above you. Doyoung has a full-time job and Jaehyun has a doctorate to worry about so they won’t have time to take care of you either.”

Doyoung, his mentor when Doyoung was still in university, works a nine to five in the IT department of the CCG, while Jaehyun is on his way to earn a doctorate in Ghoul studies, mainly on how their tastebuds and digestive systems are wired. Chenle, Human and Ghoul Biology major’s favourite pastime is to barrage Jaehyun with questions about his work, and Jeno knows that Jaehyun is looking forward to working with Chenle when he finally gets his own research program.

Point taken, they’re all busy, hell even Mark and Yukhei are busy, one with his music production internship and the other with his linguistics course, and he knows for a fact that Donghyuck’s communications degree demands a lot more than he’s letting on.

“Jen, I’m on my final year, and depending on whether I can get into the master program I might leave you guys.”

Jeno pushes down the unwillingness bubbling in his chest and tries for a light laugh instead, “Seokjin-hyung will probably try everything to prevent that from happening, noona”

Yeeun scoffs, kicking her feet on the asphalt, “He’s not as invincible as he’d like to believe, and his little _Jin-java-jin_ chant does nothing but annoy everyone.” Jeno actually chuckles at the memory.

It was unfortunate moment in the lives of all the people working in the coffee shop when Seokjin came up with the alternate coffee-themed chant to Zimzalabim and kept playing it. As all terrible things do, it caught on and Jeno has to physically stop himself from muttering _Jin-java-jin_ ( _jin jin-java-jin, jin jin-java-jin, jin jin_ ) under his breath every time he hears the song.

Jeno in all honesty thought it was a good pun and very funny, and when he tells Seokjin as such, he gets swept into his boss's arms while his boss waxes poetic about Jeno being a good young baby pun padawan and that Seokjin would gladly take him under his wing (Jeno still thinks of the incident sometimes and almost always burns his fingers on the milk jug when he does).

Maybe that’s why Seokjin likes him so much, he’s the only one who appreciates the dad jokes. Yeeun has to elbow him to stop him from doing the famous hand gesture.

“Of course I want to stay, I want to get into the program, but if I can’t, I still need to live my life, and so do you… And Jaemin seems to make you really happy by just doing the bare minimum.”

Jeno ignores the Jaemin part that makes him want to turn into a puddle of goo in the middle of the dark street, and tries to change directions by asking playfully, “Noona, are you implying I’m easy?”

Her answer comes after a beat, serious and whole-hearted, “I’m implying that you deserve to be happy, Jeno, and if he makes you happy, I’m happy for you.”

Jeno warms, and this time it’s different to the flush of embarrassment he feels at their teasing, it’s a warm glow that reminds him that they’re as fond of him as he is of them, and that he chose the right place to work in, to build connections in.

Yeeun is the older sister that he never knew to ask for, never knew he needed, and will never regret getting, even if her more calm and collected self is used to tease him more than anything.

“And I want to be able to go on double dates with you in the future, doofus, you’re one of my closest friends.”

Jeno can’t help the retort that slips past his lips, because countering and denial is his default reaction to things that make him feel mushy inside, “Noona, you don’t even have a date.”

A voice that Jeno doesn’t know rings out from very near, right behind his ear.

“Rather rude of you to say that, kid.”

In a flash, the warm feeling turns cold and goosebumps crawl their way up his skin.

He whirls to meet black and red eyes.

* * *

Jeno knows about ghouls, he has to know the basics at least.

The CCG or the ghoul countermeasures bureau, demands all citizens be educated on the threat. Jeno is a good student, and it’s all been covered in his current affairs classes when he was younger, but he’s always approached the topic with as much interest as he does prunes, languid disinterest, because it’s an aspect too far removed from his life.

He’s told of their pitch black scleras and red eyes, he’s told of their extra limbs, their kagune - a term gunned in Japan where the ghoul epidemic started - glowing appendages that strike incredibly fast and are harder than stone and can cut through steel.

And most key of all, their diet of human flesh.

Chenle loves all this, is fascinated by it (Mercury in Scorpio, Donghyuck says, and Jeno doesn’t think he’s heard of a more meaningless string of three words) In fact, Chenle, lover of a challenge, had vowed and taken it upon himself to be able to understand the constituents of human bodies and well as how the digestive system of ghouls factor in to their diet.

Jeno knows Chenle gets a lot of shit for wanting to create food that ghouls can eat as a substitute of human bodies, and he knows of all the bruises when people push him around and that Chenle tries to hide them, doesn’t want him or Donghyuck to worry. His only solace is that Chenle has a brighter future ahead of him than most his classmates because Chenle is incredibly smart and he’s one of the sweetest people Jeno knows.

Seoul used to be plagued by fear at ghouls in his parent’s generation, but the growth in power and knowledge of the CCG greatly helped the humans’ predicament and put a dampener on the chaos, with the most notable change being the introduction of ghoul regulation.

Somewhere in his high school years, there was a shift in the Seoul department of the CCG, and a breakthrough in ghoul behaviours and differences was made. A novel idea of engineering to mediate that difference and regulate ghouls, rather than hunt them down, was proposed.

There was an uproar, in both the ghoul and human community, but the head scientist turned commissioner was prepared, and so were the ghoul investigators, with increased surveillance at the underground ghoul community, he introduced the first wave of regulated ghouls into society.

Regulated ghouls were given meds, shots and regular check ups, to reduce their _Rc cells_ , the main factor in their characteristic traits, and were given regular meals from donor bodies and classes to re-assimilate them into the human society. They were given a chance to experience normal life where they were treated less like monsters and more like everyone else. And the head commissioner, after displaying the success of the first wave, welcomed any ghoul that was willing to take the chance to live an actual life.

Since then, Seoul has never looked back, ghoul attacks lessened, only the occasional turf wars and the unregulated ghouls would come out hunting.

And that head commissioner who single-handedly instigated the change, was Kim Namjoon, Seokjin’s other half.

Needless to say, Jeno’s respect of both of them doubled when he finally met the dimpled legend himself, and when Donghyuck’s boyfriend, Mark came clean as a first wave regulated ghoul.

He knows of ghouls of course, but he was never given much reason to fear them, especially after meeting Mark, who’s just about as threatening as his cat, just infinitely dorkier and more inclined to write lyrics at wee hours of the morning or hum random melodies.

Mark who was sweet and grateful to everyone and anything and still keeps in close contact with Namjoon, still makes a point to meet up with him every other week. Mark who, if Jeno didn’t know better, was more human than any one of them, and earned his place here in society.

Mark who is fascinated by watermelons and listens in wonder when Chenle describes the taste and texture, Mark who would rather spit fire and work on his rap skills and make beats than tear him to shreds, and by growing closer to the elder, his already small fear of meeting a ghoul dwindled and diminished to nothing.

All that seemed so distant, until the horror appears in front of him.

* * *

They freeze at the dark grin on the ghoul’s face, so similar to theirs’, so deceptively human, except for the sinister twist of his lips and the dark, dark eyes.

“Well, well, what do we have here? A couple?”

Jeno instinctively puts Yeeun, who’s frozen in fear, behind him, he stretches his arms out slightly to put himself more prominently in front of her, and the tips of his fingers brush against a cone.

“Lucky, lucky me, I get twice the amount of food right after TVXQ gets caught,” The ghoul rubs his hands together in glee.

An idea starts to grow in his head as he takes in his surroundings. If Jeno’s going to do it, he needs to do it right, and he needs to do it fast. He has one shot at this. Jeno is pretty athletic, and he’s a pretty good arm and fast runner, but ghouls have superhuman strength and endurance, so Jeno has to make it in one go.

He runs this through in his head once before gripping the cone and throwing it with all his strength into the ghoul’s face, he tugs Yeeun along as he turns to sprint.

“Noona! Move!”

His heart thuds twice the speed of his feet as he and Yeeun dash across the pavement- They need to get to light, they need to get to the main street, to get to help- why oh why did they take a shortcut, today of all days?

They run for a length of the street, just as they’re about to turn the corner to the alley that leads to a well lit road, _we’re gonna make it, we can make it , we will-_

But the ghoul lands in front of them with a boom, the concrete at his feet cracking at the impact and teeth bared in annoyance at them. Jeno and Yeeun are forced to skid to a halt.

But Yeeun is Yeeun, and she wouldn’t have survived the morning shift if she takes situations like this lying down.

A few presses open and activates her alert app, and another immediately gets her through to some sort of hotline that she screams their whereabouts at.

The ghoul moves to grab her phone and she dodges, hand coming out of her bag with a can of pepper spray that she empties into the ghoul’s eyes and mouth, before jamming the can into his face and backhanding the guy.

Jeno actually winces at the crunch of bones that he hears when aluminium meets ghoul flesh and immediately tugs her along while the ghoul howls in pain.

He makes a mental note to sic Yeeun on whoever tries to bully Chenle if it ever happens again. Yeeun loves Chenle as does he, and Jeno wants those bullies who made his favourite cabbage head wilty to _suffer_.

But ghouls move fast, and unfortunately current affairs class was not exaggerating. Jeno can feel the crack when the ghoul’s fist meets his stomach and for a second he forgets how to breathe

_Ow_ \- Fuck- it hurts like a bitch- There’s a metallic taste in his mouth, and he wonders if it was internal damage or if he was stuoid enough to bite on his tongue. He can hear Yeeun screaming his name, tears in her voice.

Oh hell- The liabilities Junmyeon and Seokjin would face if they died on the way back home from the workshift- No, no- They’re too nice to get that sort of punishment because Jeno and Yeeun were stupid and took the back alley- And he loves Yeeun, loves her like family, he won’t let this bastard get to her-

Jeno’s reacting on impulse alone when he circles his arms around the ghoul’s waist and yells at Yeeun to run and get help, and it takes her only a second of hesitation before she takes off, tears in her eyes, at breakneck speed, screaming at the top of her lungs for someone, anyone.

He holds fast when the ghoul makes to stop Yeeun from leaving, Jeno lets himself become dead weight to drag the ghoul from behind to slow him down.

“You piece of shit-“

The ghoul plucks Jeno’s grip off him with ease and tosses him onto the ground, “Fucking cattle, the lot of you, both of you are so fucking noisy-“

_Fuckfuckfuck_

“Just as I’ve been able to claim a new territory, now you’ve set alarms off and the CCG will be pinning me down, fucking use me like a puppet for their regulation experiments-“

It’s not like that, Jeno wants to tell the ghoul, it really isn’t. Namjoon is careful to give ghouls the same rights as humans, the same respect and opportunities, and ghouls who try hard to assimilate into the system will find themselves rewarded, happy with where they stand, like Mark-hyung.

It’s a bit ridiculous that Jeno is still trying to defend his employer’s boyfriend when he’s in mortal danger, but the ghoul is wrong, _so_ wrong, what’s bad about living in harmony? If humans can accept that ghouls need to feed is because of inborn nature and can find a sustainable ethical source for it, and if humans are trying their best to understand ghouls, why can’t ghouls do the same?

He can only hope Yeeun runs fast enough, gets far enough that she’s safe from the ghoul as he meets the ghoul’s eyes, dark and filled with malice. _Wrong, wrong, wrong, this ghoul is wrong._

“I’ll enjoy tearing you apart, and then I’m going to get your fucking bitch later-“

Jeno scrambles up, ignoring the pain in his chest as he tries to make distance with the ghoul, no choice but to turn his back on the entity as he makes to hightail the fuck out of there and suddenly there’s a hand on his shoulder, pulling him back.

Then, a crushing force, as the ghoul mercilessly digs his fingers into Jeno’s shoulder and _pulls_ , literally pulls out a chunk of his flesh there and Jeno _screams_ , vision white in pain.

Oh god- Jeno’s not sure he’s thinking anymore- Fuck- He got his shoulder, the ghoul got his shoulder.

Jeno is going to die here, bleeding, alone, torn to shreds, made a meal, he won’t live to see Chenle’s 19th birthday-

It’s never occurred to him, the need to fear ghouls, since his impression of ghouls is that of Mark, the dorky boyfriend of a messy roommate, really passionate about music, tries his best at everything, and cracks terrible jokes but never aggressive, takes shots and regular check-ups in stride and always gives amazing advice whenever jeno needs it.

Jeno’s only seen the black scleras once, and it’s because Mark was spooked when they were watching Annabelle and not anything else.

The ghoul grins, the chilling image of bloodstained teeth and black eyes sears itself into Jeno’s vision and fuck- Jeno’s never been so scared before.

The ghoul’s fingers digs into the wound on his shoulder again and Jeno hears a bloodcurdling scream before he realizes that the sound had ripped itself from his chest.

Pain. Pain. Pain.

Suddenly, something slams into the ghoul with a snarl, and Jeno gets thrown again onto the asphalt, wind knocked out of his lungs.

“Who the fuck are you-“ The ghoul gravels, before screaming when Jeno hears a tearing of flesh.

He doesn’t have the strength to turn around and look, he doesn’t want to look, his shoulder is killing him, and that punch to his gut must have broken more than a couple of ribs because it hurts, it hurts to breathe, it hurts to think.

But he has to get out of here, Jeno wants to live.

Slowly, he musters strength in his limbs to drag himself the opposite direction, away from the ghoul who’s screaming for mercy.

He doesn’t want to know what fate belies him, whatever that can take down that ghoul with ease is going to come for him next, Jeno knows it, and he’s scared, scared out of his wits that this reality is his now, he’s the hunted.

Bottom of the food chain.

He doesn’t want to give up, he can’t give up yet, he-

His next movement jerks his shoulder wound so violently that Jeno whimpers from the wave of pain. He doesn’t have any strength left to scream.

_Nononono not yet, please- someone- anyone- please-_

Then, nothing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Jeno will be just fine dw guys :D
> 
> There actually is a coffee called a black eye and I am overwhelmed with the NEED to see Seokjin running a coffee shop because Chaotic Good and Shoulders >:D Also because Jeno seems to have the ability to extract mother hen instincts out of everyone uwu
> 
> Yes this is kind of a panicked gay/coffee shop/ghoul au because the Tokyo ghoul verse is great! there are a lot modern fluff tropes that I want to try my hand at writing. I’ll probably change a few things about the universe though as you can tell i already did lol because I’m more into floof than angst and I want a feasible happy ending without too much suffering but are you guys even surprised anymore
> 
> Yeeun is a queen and a half and I may or may not have been writing this under the influence of a minor girl crush on her
> 
> Please do talk to me and let me know what you think in the comments!!!


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